Police investigate 'racist' attack on Jaffa man

Hanan Usruf said to be suffering head wounds in reported racist attack by group of drunk youths; no arrests made.

Sourasky Medical Center .
(photo credit:courtesy)

Tel Aviv police have opened an investigation into the beating of an Arab man from Jaffa on the city's promenade early Sunday morning, and examining the possibility that the assault was a racist attack.

Spokeswoman Orit Friedman of the Tel Aviv police said that on Sunday morning they received a call about the attack, and sent officers to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where they interviewed, Hanan Usruf, 40, who was suffering from head wounds. Police say the victim was lightly wounded.

Friedman said he told officers he was beaten by a group of drunk youths around 4:30 am, who used racial slurs against him while they were attacking him.

Friedman said officers were sent to the scene of the attack where they gathered evidence, but that so far they don't have any suspects and no arrests have been made.

Police would not relate to reports that the attackers were a group of Ethiopian
youths, saying that they don't take into account the race of suspects when
investigating an assault.